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Because of one stupid ingredient, she had put herself in a coma and still didn’t have her memories. “Is that why it feels like everything is trapped in a cloud in my brain?”

“Most likely,” Obryn said as he continued to read the recipe. “The potion would create a safety perimeter around your memories. But since the amount of foxweed is too high, it locks those memories. It would also explain why you can’t remember anything from the last few months and not just those memories of Mister Dawson himself.”

“Locked, meaning I could potentially regain them?”

Rylan stood up and walked to the blackboard. “I had that problem with my shield potion once. The shield had turned against me and actually locked me out from using my magic. Only lasted for about thirty minutes, of course, but I had to find a way to unlock it.” He started writing an equation in chalk. “In order to do that, you have to create an unlocking potion that basically undoes the overuse of foxweed. That way you unlock the memories without destroying them.”

Obryn got to work and started brewing a possible reversal potion.

Mira stared at the crystal bowl, trying not to give in to hope. There was a high likelihood this wouldn’t work.

But she wanted so desperately to regain the memories of the last few months. Even though her friends had filled her in on the most important memories, she wondered what she had felt during it all. She had finally gotten rid of Rakkley and his magic, but all she remembered about it was what her friends had told her. Like an entry in a history book, she had no emotional connection to it. Had it changed her? Was she different from the Mira before?

And what about Dawson? Despite his confession, she didn’t quite believe he had transmuted her emotions this whole time because it simply didn’t make sense. Not after hearing his friends say he was distraught after putting her into a coma.

When Obryn was done, he handed her the new potion. She took the vial and stared at it for a while, wondering if it would work. Wondering what she would find on the other side. Were they good memories? Bad? Why did Dawson want her to forget everything that had happened between them?

The second she drank the potion, a tingling went through her. Like tiny bubbles bursting. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on memories, but everything was blurry.

“Anything?” Rylan asked.

“I’m not sure.”

There was an image, but it disappeared before she could get to it. Focus! Another image popped up. It looked like Dawson, but right as the memory became clear, it washed away again.

“I’m tasting spearmint,” she told Rylan, who wrote it down.

Spearmint. That was familiar. The taste of it so vivid, it sparked a memory. At first, the image in her mind appeared foggy but then Dawson’s sharp features cut through the haze until it seemed like he was standing right in front of her. She recoiled at the coldness in his vacant eyes. They seemed inhuman. Violent.

She took a step back and collided with a chair but didn’t open her eyes, trying to stay in the memory—even though she didn’t want to be close to him. Her instincts told her to run. Perhaps his friends were underestimating what Dawson was capable of. The Wielder in front of her looked like he would manipulate her emotions for fun. Toy with her and then erase her memories. The thought that he had touched her made her stomach churn.

And then—just like he had appeared—the memory of Dawson faded, swept away like a cloud changing shape until it was gone.

“Damn it,” she sighed, and opened her eyes.

“Did you see something?” Rylan wondered.

“Not much. Just Dawson standing in front of me. He didn’t say anything.”

She wondered what his voice sounded like.

Highmage Obryn collected papers off the desk. “Well, there is no precedent to shielding against memory erasure, nor what the path to recovering those memories looks like. I will do some research.”

“I’ll do the same,” Rylan said.

Obryn retrieved his coin from his jacket. “Get some rest, Miss Winters.” He flipped it and disappeared.

Mira stared at her arm, still thinking it was an illusion that she had actually removed her scar. It was finally over. And yet…she felt this pull toward her lost memories.

“I don’t know how to wield Dark Magic,” she said to Rylan. “The memory of how to use my signifiers is gone, but not my powers. Maybe being able to control my signifiers could help me remember?”

He shrugged on his coat. “It’s possible. Smells or sounds can bring us back to a specific moment, so perhaps magic can do the same thing?”

She closed her notebook. “Yeah. Maybe.”

Mira woke up late the next morning and felt well-rested for the first time in years. No nightmares had plagued her. She checked her left arm again and couldn’t believe the scar was really gone. She climbed out of bed, got dressed, and coin traveled to Tallan to meet Ella at a café. Over warm scones and coffee, Mira told her about removing her scar.

“I can’t believe you did it!” Ella squealed. “You can finally move on with your life.”